Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................... V
Analytics Culture
W H Y H A S N T Y O U R D ATA S C I E N C E I N V E S T M E N T
D E L I V E R E D O N I T S P R O M I S E ? ...................................................... 6
Organizational Profiles
G E T T I N G PA S T T H E B U M P S I N T H E R O A D .................................. 13
Everything you Need to Know About Managing Your Data Science Talent
T H E B O O Z A L L E N D ATA S C I E N C E TA L E N T
M A N A G E M E N T M O D E L .................................................................... 31
CONCLUSION........................................................................................ 42
Contents | iii
iv | Introduction
INTRODUCTION
In these pages, youll discover: business units? Each option has its advantages
++ W
hy your data science investment may not and risks.
have delivered on its promise so far. It could ++ How to stand up the position of Chief Data
be that you havent developed an analytics- Officer (CDO). We tell you why a CDO needs
driven culture. to be one part enforcer and two parts
++ How to keep from getting bogged down. data evangelist.
Some organizations have difficulty prioritizing ++ How you can leverage our Data Science Talent
their data science projects. Others face skepti- Management Model. Well help you answer three
cism from leadership. Heres how to overcome key questions: Who do you need? Where do you
the most common roadblocks. need them? How do you keep them?
++ How to get buy-in for data science throughout ++ Why design thinking-when applied to data
the entire organization. We show you how to science-can unlock organizational value.
overcome resistance to everything from using How the designers mindset can ground and
analytics to sharing information. amplify analytic insights.
++ Where to place your data science teams in your
organization. Should they be centralized?
Dispersed? Permanently embedded in individual
Introduction | v
A N A LY T I C S C U LT U R E
The promise of game-changing results from data science has been touted
for years, and the allure of that promise has driven organizations across all
commercial markets and the public sectors to invest huge sums of money,
time, and resources to make it happen. Encouraged by the outcomes of
analytical pilots, organizations are now looking to scale data science
across their enterprise. As they continue their pursuit, they have found the
benefits are elusive and they are often humbled by organizational inertia.
The hard truth is that a key enabler to delivering on the biggest promise of
data science is transforming organizational culture. And, contrary to popular
belief, its not about transforming to just any culture. Organizations must
start to pursue an analytics-driven culture.
An analytics-driven culture uses analytics to generate analytics-driven culture, the organization becomes
insights that can be used by organizations to inform particularly adept at asking the right questions and
strategic decisions and propel the organization to the rapidly (within minutes sometimes) getting answers.
next level of performance. One of the key benefits of That shifts the time available to thoughtful discus-
an analytics-driven culture is the difference in sion on what analytical outputs mean and how they
timescales in findings solutions. With an inform decisions to derive desired outcomes.
B O O Z A L L E N S D ATA S C I E N C E D E L I V E R Y M O D E L
Booz Allens Data Science Delivery Model describes + Generate Insights is where our experts apply
the ongoing activities that collectively evolve an data science and advanced analytics methods,
organization to an analytics-driven culture. We work tools, and techniques to support our clients in
with organizations to approach analytics in a holistic unveiling analytic insights.
matter through three phases: + Realize Value turns the analytic insights into
+ Imagine Outcomes focuses on deconstructing actionable results that enhance an organizations
business problems to define objectives that effectiveness, efficiency, and/or bottom line. We
will be met through analytics. We work with our support our clients in putting analytics into
clients to create analytics strategies, prioritize production, developing feed-back ecosystems,
initiatives, and establish a collaborative environ- establishing an environment of continuous
ment around analytics. learning, and building and managing their talent.
g
uildin ACC
sh ip B EL
ion ER
elat DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE AT
, R including industry expertise, familiarity with data sets, O
on RS
ti and operational understanding, underpins an
era organizations ability to maximize the value from its data
n
oll
Ge
ab
a
ora
Ide
tive
GENERATE
n,
IMAGINE
atio
INSIGHTS
nal
OUTCOMES
ritiz
ytic
s,
TS
ANALYTICS-
DRIVEN
CULTURE
EL
ACC
n
IM
ES
G
A
IN M
E OUTCO
EA
UE
R
LIZ
E VA L
REALIZE VALUE
For my operations, organization,
bottom line, and culture
C Implement analytics in the enterprise
A
C g
EL Identify and apply insights to generate value
ER sin
en
AT al
OR ion
S ituat
ctiva
ted n rise,
alytics, daptive nterp
Analytics Culture | 7
HOW TO INCUBATE AND SUSTAIN AN R E C A L I B R AT E Y O U R T O L E R A N C E
F O R FA I L U R E FA I L U R E I S T H E
ANALY TICS-DRIVEN CULTURE P R I C E O F D I S C O V E R Y:
It is no surprisebuilding a culture is hard and To realize the full power of what data science can
there is just as much art to it as there is science. provide, it is important to foster curiosity and
It is about deliberately creating the conditions for experimentation, and embrace failure for the
advanced analytics to flourish and then stepping unexpected insights and learning that it can provide.
back to empower collective ownership of an organic At Booz Allen, we created these conditions in a few
transformation. At Booz Allen Hamilton, we not only ways. First, we empowered our data science team to
have experience in helping our clients navigate this investigate and discover; to design and run their own
challenge, but we also have experience from our experiments that blend inductive pattern recognition
own transformation. Led in part by our 500+ data with deductive hypothesis generation; and to explore
science team, we began our own journey to an rabbit holes of interest. Recognizing, like many
analytics-driven culture, and, through our experiences, others, that data scientists are rarely motivated by
we identified foundational building blocks that are money and prefer the time and space to geek out,
universal to anyone who wants to deliver on the we established a series of reward and recognition
promise of analytics. While in the end each mechanisms focused on investing in passion projects.
organization will have its own unique flavor of its Discovery has an added organizational benefit.
final analytics-driven state, it is important to start
any journey by pursuing these foundational elements.
Weve outlined the basics for how to incubate and
sustain an analytics-driven culture.
RECALIBRATE
YOUR TOLERANCE
FOR FAILURE
Failure is the Price of
Discovery
Y
CH
Da bou a Sci
ati m
Tha
of Be RAR
HI TTE
CL nce
e
BE IV
ta t M ent
bo En
A at
nD
US
lla e
E
UR LA
Co th
r
YO F
E
an
is
It C
ANALYTICS-
DRIVEN
CULTURE
DE ANA e Neersant
E C NT A
M LY
Eve eel C
LU O
THAY I IDE
OC TI s to
B
F
r y on
ing
by llers
on ve
W OV
RA CS
Do
rn te
PR
TI
Lea tor y
ZE
d
MEASURE AND
REWARD
THE MEANS AS
WELL AS THE END
It Reinforces Behavior
that will
Deliver Results
8 | W H Y H A S N T YO U R D ATA S C I E N C E I N V E S T M E N T D E L I V E R E D O N I T S P R O M I S E ?
We found that discovery is self-fulfilling and that team and the broader data science community. At
once you start on the road to discovery, you gain Booz Allen, we have invested in tools, resources, and
momentum and energy that permeates throughout platforms to empower data scientists to share their
the organization, which provides powerful lift to your work and build on each others successes. This
data science team. Finally, it is important to note includes a sandbox to store algorithms and code so
that it is essential to fail fast in the discovery that good work can be replicated without permission.
process. It does no good to toil on something for We also developed a tool that relies on collective
6 months and then learn that it doesnt work. community participation to source and share data
Experiment and fail quickly to discover more. sets that can be used for analysis.
B E I N C L U S I V E D ATA S C I E N C E I S A B O U T P R O V I D E A WAY I N T O T H E C L U B
M O R E T H A N D ATA S C I E N T I S T S : STORY TELLERS LEARN BY DOING:
What we learned in our journey is that true curiosity Data science and advanced analytics can be
and experimentation requires an enormous tent intimidating for some and exciting for others.
of skills, abilities, and perspectives to achieve Whats important is to provide a variety of learning
meaningful outcomes for data science. It is opportunities that can cater to the different skill
important to take an inclusive approach to advanced sets and attitudes that exist within the organization.
analytics that extends beyond the traditional cadre We tackled this challenge in a variety of ways:
of world-class data scientists. For example, our (1) We sponsored analytical challenges and
data science teams often include data scientists, hackathons both to test and satisfy the desire
technologists, domain experts, organizational of advanced practitioners while at the same time
design and strategy practitioners, design thinkers, providing a safe learning environment for those still
and human capital specialists. Diversity of thought developing their skills; (2) We created a self-paced
can help organizations unlock the particularly thorny online training course for data education, Explore
problems and extract value from their data. Data Science, to teach both foundational and
advanced data science concepts such as data
F L AT T E N Y O U R H I E R A R C H Y I T C A N B E T H E visualization; (3) Additionally, we created a data
E N E M Y O F C O L L A B O R AT I O N : science training program called TechTank to cultivate
Data scientists need the autonomy and the flexibility skills through apprenticeship and structured training.
to explore analytical challenges without the added These are just a few examples. The bottom line is
burden of unnecessary hierarchical structures. In that we learned it is important to design opportuni-
practice, this means providing data science teams ties and learning programs at all levels to help
with access to resources, tools, and talent; the people get familiar with data science concepts and
freedom to scope and run their own experiments; become more comfortable in practicing them. Dont
and the time and space to collaborate with a diverse cast data scientists as mythical rock stars and then
A K E Y P I T FA L L T O AV O I D
When building an analytics-driven culture, it is important to avoid creating high barriers to entry. Often organizations will
showcase top data science talent as an example of the capability. While it is intended to provide context and vision, it
can also be interpreted as an unrealistic comparison for some. Rather than illuminate a single data science rock star,
it is important to highlight a diversity of talent at all levels to help others self-identify with the capability. It is also a more
realistic version of the truth. Very rarely will you find magical unicorns that embody the full breadth of math and computer
science skills along with the requisite domain knowledge. More often, you will build diverse teams that when combined
provide you with the triple-threat (computer science, math/statistics, and domain expertise) model needed for the
toughest data science problems.
Analytics Culture | 9
One of the difficult aspects not offer a way into the club. Remember, M E A S U R E A N D R E WA R D T H E
all data scientists have a role in providing MEANS AS WELL AS THE END
of cultivating an analytics- I T R E I N F O R C E S B E H AV I O R T H AT W I L L
mentorship and learning opportunities.
driven culture is that there D E L I V E R R E S U LT S :
Data scientists need to attend hackathons,
is a lot of noise on the topic. teach classes, and mentor junior staff When building an analytics-driven culture,
whenever possible. it is important to reward the approach and
thought process that people take as well as
D E M O C R AT I Z E A N A LY T I C S the results achieved. It is similar to when
EVERYONE NEEDS TO FEEL partial credit was awarded in school
C O N V E R S A N T: some credit was given if you took the right
For something to be part of organizational approach even if you ended up at the wrong
culture, it must be part of the fabric of the answer. The same applies here. In order to
employee behavior. That means to incubate help shift mindsets and change behavior,
and sustain an analytics-driven culture, people need to believe in the analytical
employees must interact with and use process and thus be recognized for trying
analytics in their daily routines. In order for it until it is customary.
this to happen, analytics must be available At Booz Allen, we believe analytics
and accessible to all employees in some innovation starts at the staff level and have
form or fashion. For example, at Booz Allen, implemented systems and processes to
we developed a tool that allows users to reinforce that message. For example, when
drag and drop packages of coding to help we evaluate project success, we look at
solve analytical inquiries. The drag-and-drop more than just the expected results but
feature lowers the barrier to entry also the approach and learning outcome.
and empowers everyday employees in In one case, we were able to apply data
performing data analysis. Additionally, all science to devise an approach that signifi-
employees need a baseline of analytical cantly reduced the time it took to identify
knowledge, starting with a common lexicon, fraud. While the results were impressive,
to facilitate productive collaboration and the innovative approach to the problem
instill confidence. While not everyone will be became the star. In the end, we have found
data scientists, employees need to identify that whether or not the results pan out, its
with analytics and be equipped with the a win for useither weve discovered a
knowledge, skills, and abilities to work with great new finding or we have inspired our
analytics to drive smarter decisions and teams to continue looking.
deliver exponential organizational perfor-
mance. One key way we democratized
DEBUNKING COMMON MY THS THAT MAY
analytics at Booz Allen was through the
development of the Field Guide to Data PREVENT YOU FROM EVOLVING TO AN
Science, which provides a baseline under- ANALY TICS-DRIVEN CULTURE
standing about data science and a common One of the difficult aspects of cultivating
lexicon so that employees can communi- an analytics-driven culture is that there is
cate with each other and engage in solving a lot of noise on the topic. In the above
analytical problems. section, we have isolated six common
cultural denominators that must exist for
an analytics-driven culture to thrive. In
10 | W H Y H A S N T YO U R D ATA S C I E N C E I N V E S T M E N T D E L I V E R E D O N I T S P R O M I S E ?
reviewing various articles, press, and literature on the analytics community continues to push the
the subject, and comparing to our own experiences, envelope, but also respect that change is a process,
we also identified four common myths or misnomers and the benefit of time and careful planning can
to help organizations avoid potential hazards. The prevent serious missteps and unintended conse-
journey can be hard enough and its important to quences. Prototyping is typically an effective way to
focus resources on what counts. merge analytic solutions and operational realities.
Prototyping analytic solutions can generate organiza-
MY TH #1: GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES tional buy-in while helping to anticipate expected
ARE THE SOLUTION: implementation challenges to inform better planning.
Governance helpsorganizational bodies that
represent multiple stakeholder groups and meet M Y T H # 3 : D ATA S C I E N T I S T S P R O V I D E
regularly certainly help facilitate collaboration and A SERVICE TO THE BUSINESS:
information sharing. As any good data scientist In an analytics-driven culture, there is no customer
will tell you, however, correlation does not imply or provideronly partners. The term customer
causation. That is, simply because we find that most implies that one party is a recipient of someone
successful analytics organizations have governance elses service, which here, are analytic outcomes.
structures in place, it is not the structure alone that If this is the case, it is evidence that collaboration
leads to the groups success. Participants in an is failing. Throughout all analytics endeavors, data
analytics function (e.g., data scientists, business scientists and decision makers (or decision influ-
owners, operational experts) must work to establish encers) should work with shared goals, equally
relationships and trust. This is what creates an invested in both the process and the outcomes.
environment that is conducive to data transparency This means partnering every step of the wayin
and development of shared challenges, goals, and developing hypotheses, determining appropriate/
priorities. Then, governance structures serve as acceptable data inputs, validating analytic
an incredibly valuable mechanism for ensuring assumptions, and interpreting results. In this way,
such topics are discussed with some regularity we eliminate the us versus them mentality
and formality. and recognize that analytics is just part of doing
business, rather than an add-on or an input. An
M Y T H # 2 : A N A LY T I C S O L U T I O N S added benefit is better business outcomes. As
A N D O P E R AT I O N A L R E A L I T I E S A R E stated earlier, inclusive teams are a primary
M U T U A L LY E X C L U S I V E :
condition for any organization wanting to increase
A common characterization we hear from clients is, organizational performance through analytics.
operational owners are stuck in their ways with no
vision, while data scientists dont understand the M Y T H # 4 : C O M P L E X A N A LY T I C S A N D
complexity required to turn analytical answers into TOOLS ARE BETTER THAN SIMPLE
reality. As with most entirely divergent perspectives, A N A LY T I C S A N D T O O L S :
the truth is found somewhere in the middle. Often, We are excited about the technical power introduced
we observe data scientists pushing operational by tools like Hadoop and Spark, while techniques
owners outside of their comfort zones when it comes like machine learning carry a certain sort of mystique
to exploring the realm of whats possible. The and excitement. Yes, modern tools and techniques
responding hesitance is often the result of past, provide a world of opportunity that was once non-
failed experiences, or knowledge that implementa- existent, but lets not forget there is also beauty in
tion will require overcoming a series of operational simplicity. The high-end, expensive tools are
hurdles that can often take time. It is important that powerful, but most organizations are only prepared
Analytics Culture | 11
to use a fraction of their power. By over-purchasing
on analytical tools, an organization can unnecessarily
increase its analytical investment and make
it harder to prove a return on that investment.
Furthermore, the learning curve associated with the
high-end tools may make it harder for organizations
to realize the most value from their data. In the
end, information consumers must understand the
analytical insights from these tools with at least
enough certainty that they are confident in its output.
Embrace simplicity where simplicity will do, and save
complexity for the hairy problems. If the information
consumers understand the analytical results 95
percent of the time, perhaps they will just trust us
the other 5 percent.
12 | W H Y H A S N T YO U R D ATA S C I E N C E I N V E S T M E N T D E L I V E R E D O N I T S P R O M I S E ?
O R G A N I Z AT I O N A L P R O F I L E S
No organization, however, instantly becomes adept across the commercial and government sectors
at this next generation of analytics. It is a journey, found that organizations on the analytics journey
and like any journey, there may be times when the generally fit one of five profiles, each with its own set
way ahead is not clear, and it becomes difficult to of challenges. We have identified techniques that
move forward. Some organizations may be unsure of can help all organizations move forward.
the best path to take. Others may hesitate because
they are not convinced that continued investment in THE WILLING ORGANIZATIONCHARTING
analytics will pay off. Still others may find themselves A CLEAR PATH
mired in data that is difficult to use.
This organization recognizes the potential of
Even organizations that are further along in the analytics to create opportunities and solve complex
journey can find their progress slowed. It may be that problems, but does not know exactly how to proceed.
they have achieved success in pilot and proof-of- Typically, the willing organization is early in the
concept efforts, but have not figured out how to journey, and may be using basic descriptive and
translate that to a wider capability. Or, perhaps they diagnostic analytics to investigate specific problems.
have all the elements in placepeople, processes, Now, however, it wants to broaden that capability
and technologybut the larger organizational culture with analytics that can guide decision making, and
still has not embraced the potential of analytics to more fully support mission and business goals. But
feed innovation. what is the best approach? Without a clear direction,
These kinds of obstacles are natural and should be any organizationno matter how willing and able
expected. But they do not have to slow down an may find itself in a holding pattern.
organization for long. There are a number of ways Willing organizations often let their enthusiasm cloud
that organizations can restart their progress. the need to fully map out all of the many elements of
Booz Allen Hamiltons work with organizations an analytics capability. An analytics blueprint can
help organizations understand how those elements make decisions based on their own knowledge
fit together, and what steps need to be taken in and experiencedespite mounting evidence to
what order. the contrary.
For example, the blueprint can guide one of the most These types of concerns can be overwhelming,
effective steps: determining in advance where the stopping an organization in its tracks. One effective
value in the data might lie. What is the art of the solution is to think big, but start small. Organizations
possible? Instead of starting with a specific problem sometimes believe that they must jump into the
or goal, start with the data itself. Look for trends and next generation of analytics all at once. But if they
issues that suggest how analytics can make a experiment with a limited number of prototypes,
significant difference in your organization. This they have a chance to see what analytics can do.
insight gives the organization a picture of what its full This approach does not require a major investment in
analytics capability might look like, and sets the technology or people, and positive results from
context for creating the path to get there. prototypes will help build the business case for
new types of analytics and demonstrate its
THE HESITANT ADOPTERUSING PROTOT YPES potential value.
TO OVERCOME DOUBT
THE DATA-DISTRESSED ORGANIZATION
This organization may be exploring more sophisti-
cated analytics, but is less sure of how to define its BRINGING THE STAKEHOLDERS TOGETHER
value and so finds it difficult to move forward. While This organization is ready to develop more, increas-
the analytics visionaries want to increase invest- ingly sophisticated analytics, but finds it difficult to
ments in an analytics capability, they have not yet get its data all in one place in a form that is usable.
gained the organizational support for doing so. The Perhaps the data is of poor quality, filled with errors
organizations leadership, for example, may not be or incomplete. Or, there may be a reluctance to
convinced that analytics will really help the bottom share data across the organization. The data may
line. Or, individuals in the organization may not yet not be collected in a consistent way, or it might be
recognize the value of analytics, and still prefer to
THE WILLING ORGANIZATION THE HESITANT ADOPTER THE DATA DISTRESSED ORGANIZATION
14 | G E T T I N G PA S T T H E B U M P S I N T H E R O A D
locked in rigid data silos that are difficult to connect. For instance, the organization may not yet have
The list goes on. figured out how to achieve economies of scale. Or, it
Organizations can help get their data in order by may have difficulty prioritizingif several stake-
making sure that analysts are included in the data holders are competing for limited resources, for
management framework and design. Although an example, how does the organization choose which
organizations data usually belongs to IT, the analysts analytics efforts will best advance the interests of
are the usersand data problems can arise when the mission or business? These and other challenges
their point of view is not taken fully often arise because organizations typically expand by
into account. simply doing more of what they are already doing,
rather than leveraging their knowledge through
A second method is to encourage collaboration and collaboration, and the sharing of best practices and
relationship building through technical, organizational lessons learned. Establishing an analytics Center of
and physical structures, such as new governance Excellence is one of the most effective methods of
policies, or activities in which teams from across the achieving this task.
organization work together to achieve a common
goal. Such structures help break down the barriers to This Center of Excellence consists of a team that
information sharing, which is the largest obstacle to sets standards and promotes collaboration
analytics at many organizations. throughout the organization on a wide range of
topics, such as training. The team also collects and
disseminates best practices, such as analytical
THE SCALING ORGANIZATIONESTABLISHING approaches, tools and techniques. It also shares
A CENTER OF EXCELLENCE lessons learnedtypically, knowledge that is
This organization has achieved success using applicable from one effort to the next. With a Center
sophisticated analytics to drive decisions in a of Excellence, an organization can steadily grow its
number of isolated efforts, but may have difficultly analytics capability in an organic, efficient manner.
effectively growing an organization-wide capability.
Characteristics Characteristics
++ Middle/far along in the journey ++ Far along in the journey
++ Analytics have led to value in ++ Analytics generate insights,
pockets of the organization, but not everyone has adopted
but leaders are uncertain about analytics to drive decisions,
how to most effectively grow nor do they look to analytics
capabilities to answer new questions
What To Do What To Do
Establish a Center of Excellence: Initiate a Culture Change: Begin by
Stand up a team dedicated to making the analytic models easier
fostering collaboration, sharing for the end user to ingest and use
best practices, and setting
standards for analytics
Organizational Profiles | 15
THE EARLY ADOPTERINITIATING MOVING FORWARD ON THE JOURNEY
A CULTURE CHANGE Data, like any resource, exists only as potential
This organization is well established in delivering unless it can be tapped. Organizations that can best
predictive and prescriptive analytics, but it is still capture the value in their dataand use it in
trying to reach its ultimate goal: creating a culture of decision makingwill be the ones that thrive.
analytics-driven decision making. The organization Analytics is a rapidly expanding and dynamic field,
wants to use data and analytics to encourage and there is no single tried-and-true path to success.
curiosity among all its employees, not just in its Every organization will encounter bumps in the road
analysts. It hopes to inspire its entire workforce to as it finds its own way. But no matter where an
imagine how analytics might create exciting new organization is on the analytics journey, it should
opportunities for the enterprise, and solve its most think through where it is trying to go and why. What
difficult business and mission problems. does the next step look like? What does the end
A particularly effective method of achieving this state look like? By focusing on these kinds of
goal is to put data and analytics in the hands of questions, organizations can break free of their
end users from across the enterprise so they can current constraints and continue on their pathfrom
see the possibilities for themselves. Some advanced whatever point they may be along their journey.
technologies have visualization tools that enable this
kind of direct interaction and give end users the
flexibility to freely explore the data, following their
ideas and hunches wherever they may lead.
Such direct interactions will encourage end users
to think about how analytics might solve any
number of problems. This approach also increases
the transparency of the analytics, so that people
understand and trust them more.
It gives end users throughout the organization a
greater sense of ownership of the analytics and
inspires them to use data and analytics to help
drive their decisions.
16 | G E T T I N G PA S T T H E B U M P S I N T H E R O A D
A N A LY T I C S & C H A N G E
A good place to begin when defining the vision is a Booz Allens collaborative visioning process helps
stakeholder analysis. Whether you are planning to define a future state that reflects the unique realities
stand up an enterprise-wide analytics capability or of your organization and cultivates a willingness to
provide analytics for a single business unit or participate. A key role of the vision is to help over-
division, you should understand the cross-organiza- come the roadblocks to buy-in. Among the ways to
tional concerns such as improved access to data accomplish this is by demonstrating leaderships
and data security. commitment and sponsorship, and by helping
A key to realizing the vision is communicating it to analytics teams and end users establish shared
stakeholders. This is most often achieved through a values and goals for the analytics. As these
strong leader at the top of an organization. But the efforts take shape through the vision, they must
vision can also be realized from the ground up. For be reinforced through participation in the analytics
example, Booz Allens visioning process helped an capability and through prototypes.
intelligence agencyoverwhelmed by the volume of
data to be analyzedcreate a vision for their PARTICIPATING IN THE ANALY TICS CAPABILIT Y
analytics capability. That vision was communicated The next step to overcoming resistance and building
primarily through well-respected domain experts at buy-in is to encourage stakeholder participation in
the agency who led a grass-roots effort to build an the analytics capability. One way to accomplish this
analytics capability and successfully influenced is to have stakeholders from across multiple busi-
leadership, staff, and peers. Whether the vision is ness units contribute to decisions on analytics tool
top-down or bottom-up, it is essential to identify development. Through this engagement, stake-
leaders and sponsors who can reinforce the ideas holders become actively involved in making the vision
and keep the effort moving. Booz Allen gives you, as a reality. Participation calls for true collaboration
leaders and sponsors, the messaging and other leaders do not simply push their ideas down, but
change management tools to define your vision for bring all the stakeholders into the effort. Through
analytics and present it to the organization. regular feedback and other methods, stakeholders
18 | K E Y S T O B U I L D I N G B U Y - I N
can help shape and take ownership of the can help all those involved in the analytics capa-
organizations analytics capability. bilityfrom the owners of the data to the end users
The Analytics Capability Adoption Curve shows the of the analyticsdevelop a set of shared goals. And
five basic stages of change adoption, from initial it can help make the data more transparent so that
awareness to ownership. Organizations can move users are more likely to trust the results.
stakeholders along this path by establishing a
network of change agents at different levels and GAINING BUY-IN THROUGH PROTOT YPES
domain areas. For example, change agents might As organizations develop greater analytics capabili-
include mid-level managers from each business unit ties to drive decision making, prototypes are
or division, or representatives from analytics teams. essential in solidifying the support that is built with
They are essentially embedded advocates that the vision and participation. Prototypes should focus
facilitate communication among stakeholders. on areas where quick buy-in is needed most. For
Booz Allen helps develop this network of change example, if there is strong resistance to sharing
agents and gives them tools to target their information, the prototype should be strategically
communications and feedback collection. designed to show how the various stakeholders will
By fostering collaboration among the stakeholders, benefit. It is often helpful to start with smaller
the change agentsalong with leadershiphelp projects or less complex analytics where quick wins
break down the data silos and encourage information are more assured.
sharing so that the results of the analytics will be As illustrated in the chart below, prototypes that are
more complete and accurate. The stakeholders work most likely to generate buy-in have four qualities:
out their differences, offer suggestions, and under-
stand how they will all benefit. This same process
FEATURE A HARD PROBLEM If the problem is too easy to solve, people may not have confidence in the strength of the
TO SOLVE analytics capability. But make sure the problem is not insurmountable.
YIELD A HIGH RETURN Demonstration of business value is the holy grailthe analytics outputs must be
actionable, as people want to see results before they buy in.
Quick success, even if preliminary, is importantthe solution does not have to be perfect
PROVIDE AN ITERATIVE
to gain buy-in and inspire action. Be wary if the problem you are trying to solve requires
SOLUTION
extensive data collection or highly complex analytics to even begin to show results.
20 | K E Y S T O B U I L D I N G B U Y - I N
strategic and tactical gaps and potential Prototype: Booz Allen assisted ICE ERO in Booz Allen embedded
mitigation strategies, and improve mission using quick-turn tools to develop proofs, not
analytics at the core of
performance. masterpieces, in response to pressing
concerns by leadership. The iterative ERO decision making and
Participation: Booz Allen collaboratively
established an Analytical Hierarchy Process approach provided a series of quick wins provided some of the best
with senior stakeholders and enabled the
(AHP), a system of voting to reveal the and brightest individuals to
organizations preferences, to help execu- organization to institutionalize analytics. At
the heart of this effort was a commitment work on this ground-breaking
tive leaders engage in analytics tool
development and set overall direction for to data-driven decision making. Booz Allens project. The team worked
the models. We also worked with ERO to innovative spirit and strong partnership with closely with us to not only
establish a Modeling Control Board (MCB) our clients advanced ERO from a strictly
reporting organization to an analytically develop innovative tools, but
to serve as the internal governing body for
the analytics tools developed in ERO. The driven organization that proactively also help us use these tools
board consisted of stakeholders from manages its strategy, operations, budget, in our strategic and tactical
various units within ERO, which met and performance with data. Recently, the
Booz Allen team and client jointly received
decision making. As a result
regularly to discuss model assumptions,
data issues (quality, availability, etc.), the award for Innovation in Analytics from of Booz Allens support, ICE
model updates and changes, and resource the preeminent analytics organization in the understands how its data
priorities. The board reviewed and validated US, the Institute for Operations Research
can help drive decisions
all significant components of model and Management Science (INFORMS).
and results.
development and usage and helped ERO
determine how to effectively invest in and David Venturella, Former Director
grow the analytics capability. of ERO and Director of Secure
Communities
Making Organizational
Structure Work
As commercial and government entities develop data science capabilities,
an inevitable issue they face is how their data science teams should align
within the organization. Should the teams be centralized under a single
data science leader? Should they be dispersed throughout the organiza-
tion, permanently embedded in individual business units or divisions?
Should there be some combination of those two models, or perhaps yet
another alternative?
+ Greater efficiency with limited + It can be difficult to enlist business + Selling Analytics. Demonstrate
resources, including flexibility to units that have not yet bought in to tangible impacts of analytics to
modify team composition during data science business unit leadersthey are
the life of a project as needs + Business units often feel that they critical partners and need to buy in
change compete for data science resources + Portfolio Management. Create
+ Access to data science is and projects transparency into how the
organization-wide, rather than + Teams re-form for every new organization will identify and
limited to individual business problem, requiring time to select data science projects,
units establish relationships, trust, including criteria to prioritize
+ Central management stream- and collaboration opportunities and align resources
lines business processes, + Business units must provide + Teamwork. Establish early
professional development, and another organization (i.e., the data partnerships between data science
enabling tools, contributing to science unit) with access to their teams and business units, which
economies of scale data, which they are often reluctant will be integral to framing problems
+ Organizational separation to do and translating analytics into
between the business units and business insights
+ As a separate unit with rotating
data science teams promotes staff, data science teams may + Education. Train business unit
the perception that analytics are not develop the intimate domain leaders on the fundamentals of
objective knowledge that can provide data science and the characteris-
+ Project diversity motivates data efficiency to future business tics of a good data science problem,
science teams and contributes unit projects so people across the organization
to strong retention can recognize opportunities
+ Data science teams can quickly + Business units with the most money + Governance. Establish cross-
react to high-priority business often have full access to analytics functional group(s) responsible for
unit needs while others have nonethis may guiding organization-wide analytics
+ Business units are more likely not translate to the greatest standards, to include data, tool
to own the analyticsto be organizational impact selection, and means of prioritizing
involved with the data science + Data science teams may face analytics efforts
effort, accept the output, and pressure to compromise their + Peer Collaboration. Establish forums
adopt some change as a result objectivity to avoid making a such as data science communities
+ Data science teams learn the business unit look bad of practice and mentorship circles
organizations data and its + Lack of central management may to share best practices and
context, reducing project result in redundant software lessons learned (e.g., trends,
spin-up and helping them licenses and tools, which drives algorithms, methods)
become equal partners in both up total costs to the organization + Creative Outlets. Fund analytics
solving problems and identifying + The structure offers limited competitions, crowdsourcing, and
the possibilities motivation for business units to conference attendance that allow
+ A deepened understanding of integrate, inhibiting collaboration data scientists to exercise their
the business inspires data in already siloed organizations minds, solve new problems, and
science teams to ask new, hard explore techniques
+ Work may become stale to data
questions of the data, and they scientists, driving them to seek
understand the right questions new and diverse challenges
to ask
24 | M A K I N G O R G A N I Z AT I O N A L S T R U C T U R E W O R K
THE DEPLOYED MODEL
As with the diffused model, data science teams are
embedded in the business units. The difference is
that the embedded teams in the deployed model CHIEF DATA
report to a single chief data scientist as opposed to SCIENTIST
business unit leaders. In this model, also called the
BUSINESS UNIT
matrixed approach, teams are generally assigned to
LEADS
individual business units, though they are sometimes
also assigned to broader product lines, or to mission
sets comprised of members from several business
units.
DATA SCIENCE
This model often works best in organizations with TEAMS
medium-sized data science capabilities ones
that have a sufficient number of teams to handle Data science teams are overseen by a chief data
multiple projects, but must still carefully target their scientist and forward deploy to business units.
resources. This model has many of the advantages
of both the centralized and the deployed models;
Because the deployed model is often seen as the
the data science capability is more of an organic
best of both worlds, organizations may be quick to
whole, yet the embedded teams are close to the
adopt this approach. But it is also the model with the
business units.
+ Shared benefits of both the + Deployed teams are responsible to + Conflict Management. The chief
centralized and diffused model two bossesstaff may become data scientist should proactively
+ Data science teams collectively uncertain about to whom they are engage business unit leaders to
develop knowledge across ultimately accountable prevent competing priorities from
business units, with central + Data science teams may face becoming the data science teams
leadership as a bridging difficulty being accepted into responsibility to resolve
mechanism for addressing business units, where long-time + Formal Performance Feedback.
organization-wide issues relationships have been established Agree to performance goals at the
+ Access to data science is + Access to analytics-resources onset of each project, and collect
organization-wide, and close may still feel competitive between feedback during the life of project,
integration with business units business units, and data science including at its conclusion
promotes analytics adoption units risk alienating business + Rotation. Allow data science teams
+ Project diversity both motivates units whose proposed projects to work on projects across different
data science teams and are not selected business units, rather than within a
improves recruiting and single business unittake
retention advantage of one of the main
benefits this model affords
+ Central leadership streamlines
career management approaches, + Pipeline. Regularly communicate the
tool selection, and business data science project pipeline,
processes/approaches allowing business units to see how
their priorities are positioned
26 | M A K I N G O R G A N I Z AT I O N A L S T R U C T U R E W O R K
THE LE ADERSHIP ANGLE
Across government and industry, enterprises are realizing that they may
be sitting on a pot of gold waiting to be discoveredtheir enterprise data
and the insights it can provide. Many of these enterprises are responding
by standing up Chief Data Officer (CDO) organizations to enable them to
maximize the value from their data. This is an emerging and evolving
role that varies depending on whether related roles already exist in the
organization (e.g., Chief Data Scientist or Chief Analytics Officer) and how
integrated data already is carrying out the organizations objectives
(e.g., whether data is the primary business/mission, data is a driver, or
data is a byproduct). Ultimately, a CDO must focus on the data assets,
understanding and marshaling them in support of the overall enterprise
strategy, and collaborating with other leaders (e.g., Chief Analytics Officer
and business line leaders) who will facilitate achieving the potential of
that data.
The best approach to fulfilling the CDO role is to be there are five driving principles that can help a CDO
two parts data evangelist and one part enforcer answer these defining questions outlined in the table
by setting policy and developing technology frame- on page 28.
works/guidelines while still allowing the data owners
and business lines to have the flexibility to imple- BE ROOTED IN THE ENTERPRISE STRATEGY
ment them in their own way. Starting small and
The CDOs objectives must be rooted in the value he
focused will enable the CDO to set the standard early
or she seeks to generate. Enterprise-level priorities
and evolve as the data and collaboration mature. In
and constraints (e.g., resources and regulations)
doing so, a CDO faces a unique set of decisions with
drive the need to identify the business and strategic
answers that are not black and white. Fortunately,
imperatives that are best met through the CDO
versus other entities (e.g., business lines start-up phase. Typical CDO functions can
Align Data Use and Policies and IT). A CDO should develop a strategy include enterprise data governance, data
With the Enterprise Strategy that aligns with, and supports, the vision of architecture, and data infrastructureeach
relevant enterprise strategies and a clear of which has many subfunctions (e.g., data
A CDO must align data use and policies intent for increasing the value data provides quality, metadata, document management,
with the overall enterprise strategy to to the enterprise. Developing the strategy content management, data warehousing,
ensure that data sources are available does not need to be a cumbersome or reference data, and data security). These
to support the business lines specific immovable process. It can be as straight- functions should support the enterprise
questions, objectives, and hypotheses.
forward as defining an articulate goal architecture of the broader organization and
that serves as a guiding compass while align to the needs of its core partners
being flexible enough to allow for course including, business lines, IT, and data
adjustments. That goal may focus on owners. Determining these functions will
increasing data access, preserving help delineate where the CDO should align
equities, extracting more value from data, and how the different parts of the organiza-
or enabling the business. tion will work together. Depending on the
organization, alignment to the Chief
SUPPORT AND AUGMENT THE EXISTING Executive Officer may be necessary to have
ORGANIZATIONAL CONSTRUCT the authority to serve as a data access and
governance enforcer or achieve the desired
The CDO must determine what functions to cultural shift. At the same time, alignment
perform and where in the organization he or to the Chief Information Officer may
she will align. The CDO should keep in mind facilitate acquisition of the technical
only a few of the most important functions infrastructure needed to achieve the CDOs
should be focused on during the early
Scale it
How should the CDO engage with the enterprise
to drive toward a data-driven culture?
28 | H A R N E S S I N G T H E P OW E R O F D ATA T H R O U G H T H E S TA N D - U P O F A C H I E F D ATA O F F I C E R
goals. No matter the alignment, the BE A DATA EVANGELIST
CDO must take the lead in fostering the The Trusted Data Format (TDF)
The CDO is a new and unfamiliar role for
necessary collaboration and communication
most organizations. As the data evangelist,
to ensure alignment with the rest of Leveraging enterprise data headers,
it is the CDOs role to build a data-driven such as the Trusted Data Format (TDF),
the organization.
culture across the enterprise. While some can reduce compliance and security
of this comes from the CDOs inherent role complexity by creating self-describing
ENSURE DATA ACCESS AND as a facilitator of collaboration, equally or machine-learned data that prescribes
GOVERNANCE AS AN ENFORCER important are proactive means of helping how data systems must handle the
Well-defined governance processes and all layers of the organization, front-line multitude of organizational requirements
consistent ways to share, access, and employees through executives, develop an placed on the data.
manipulate data enable the enterprise to increased level of comfort with data
including collecting data, asking questions TDF remains flexible by providing the
develop reusable, intraoperative, and legally
option for the CDO to define the basic
compliant data capabilities in a short of the data, and continuing to use data/
schema and policies that form the
amount of time. A CDOs focus should be analytics to drive decisions. To do this, a
enterprise standard while leaving the
on setting a common definition of what CDO can identify and disseminate best
business lines and data owners to
constitutes shared data and how it should practices and lessons learned while customize and provide further definition
be moved across the enterprise. This understanding shared, cross-organization without being tied to a specific
includes the initial and practical governance areas of interest (e.g., most frequently used technology.
or the basic rules of the road that will data, usage patterns, and techniques). A
provide the necessary guidance to allow CDO can also proactively communicate new
data to be tagged, shared, and accessed policies, guidance, and standards to all
and a data architecture and infrastructure relevant parties and sponsor committees
roadmap that is focused on enabling early, that work across the business lines to
quick wins. Ultimately, the business and respond to gaps in data management
enterprise need to trust the data assets processes and help resolve conflicts,
so they can rely on the accuracy of the particularly around data usage and sharing.
derived analyses. In addition, a CDO can employ tools (e.g.,
drag and drop coding packages, reusable
The policy set forth must also be imple-
visualization interfaces) that democratize
mented through technology in a manner
analytics by lowering the barriers to
that adheres to policy and is still
entry for those not as skilled in
lightweight and flexible for data owners
programming languages.
and consumers. It should also take into
account best practices and lessons
learned from other partner organizations,
as appropriate.
30 | H A R N E S S I N G T H E P OW E R O F D ATA T H R O U G H T H E S TA N D - U P O F A C H I E F D ATA O F F I C E R
E V E R Y T H I N G YO U N E E D T O
K NOW ABOUT MANAGING
YO U R D ATA S C I E N C E TA L E N T
Recently, Harvard Business Review branded data THE RANGE OF TALENT REALITIES
Given the current demand for data
science the Sexiest Job in the 21st Century, scientists, we often see organizations in
and the relatively new career field has been a few different states when examining
their data science talent reality:
growing in popularity since. Organizations are
+ The Aspiring Star: An organization that
clamoring to attract, hire, and build talent that is just beginning its data science
journey and needs to acquire and/or
can unlock the power of their data and deliver on
hire talent
its promising potential to increase organizational + The Duckling: An organization with
performance and drive complex business deci- potential data science talent that is
struggling to develop and transform
sions. The hard truth, however, is that good data its staff
scientists are hard to findcurrent demand far + The Enviable but Vulnerable: An
organization that has data science
outweighs supply. A recent survey by Gartner talent and must retain its much
found that over half of business leaders felt their sought-after resources.
ability to carry out analytics was restricted by the To complicate matters, organizations
difficulty in finding the right talent. Furthermore, can transition organizational states at
different points across their analytical
not finding the right data science talent can have journey, meaning that an organizations
a cost. It is not as simple as renaming a busi- talent challenges will also change over
time. To succeed in this type of dynamic
ness intelligence analyst, completing a day-long environment, a talent management model
training, or hiring any candidate with data can be a difference maker.
science in their resume. The National Business
Research Institute estimates the cost of one bad
hire can range from $25K to $300K depending
on job complexity.
Booz Allen identified key activities, tasks, Data scientists have a unique blend of talent requirements, Booz Allen took a
and attributes required to successfully knowledge, skills, behavioral attributes, rigorous, scientifically based approach to
perform in a data science role to help and personality traits that enable them to designing the foundation of a data science
clients understand the work to be combine and analyze massive amounts of Talent Management Model. To meet the
performed. structured and unstructured data to solve needs of business leaders, human
some of an organizations most complex resources professionals, and our own data
WHY THE JOB ANALYSIS MAT TERS:
problems. Their inquisitive nature, as well science workforce, Booz Allen started from
+ Helps clients define and understand the as their ability to implement the scientific scratch, leveraging the expertise of our
most important work of their data method and advanced tools and tech- human capital team and the knowledge,
science teams
niques, makes them exceptionally unique capabilities, and experience of our 500+
+ Confirms the importance, frequency, and vitally important in todays competitive data science team to describe core
and relevance of tasks and knowledge, environment. Yet few organizations have elements of data science work activities;
skills, and abilities (KSAs)
taken a proactive, rigorous approach to define those characteristics that best
+ Assists organizations to address defining the unique characteristics of data represent successful execution of the work;
expansion of mission, establishment science professionals, systematically and develop a Talent Management Model
of a new role, or an influx of new staff
documenting the type of work they perform; that will arm clients with the insights
+ Establishes the legal and scientific the competencies required for success; and needed to best identify, attract, grow, and
basis the comprehensive approach to talent retain data science talent.
management required to identify, attract,
Booz Allen developed a scientifically valid
grow, and retain these professionals. DEFINING THE CORE ELEMENTS OF
competency framework to help clients
determine what KSAs their data science Booz Allen Hamilton, a leading strategy and THE JOB: JOB ANALYSIS
team needs. technology consulting firm, accepted the First, Booz Allen began by conducting a
challenge. Recognizing the need to better comprehensive job analysis on our own
WHY THE COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK understand the key elements that make up data science cadre. With the largest
MAT TERS: the data science role and data science
+ Provides clients with insights into what
characteristics and KSAs are required
for a data scientists individual success BOOZ ALLENS DATA SCIENCE COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK
+ Establishes a legally defensible Clusters Competencies
foundation for human capital practices
+ Useful when hiring/selecting talent, Technical: Knows How and Statistical Modeling; Research Design; Data Mining and
developing the workforce, assessing What to Do Integration; Data Visualization; Computer Science; Database
training needs, etc. Science; Machine Learning; Programming and Scripting;
Information Assurance; Mathematics; Operations Research
32 | T H E B O O Z A L L E N D ATA S C I E N C E TA L E N T M A N A G E M E N T M O D E L
number of data scientists supporting government The technical competency cluster depicts the
clients spanning every federal market sector in foundational technical and specialty knowledge and
addition to numerous commercial clients, Booz Allen skills needed for successful performance in each
data scientists provide a rich and diverse cross-sec- job or role. The characteristics in the consulting
tion of the data science career field. The job analysis competency cluster can help data scientists easily
identified both the criticality and frequency of specific integrate into various market or domain contexts
job tasks mapped across consulting, cognitive, and and partner with business units to understand the
personality areas, thereby solidifying their impor- environment and solve complex problems. The
tance along with advanced technical skills. This kind cognitive competency cluster represents the type
of analysis not only deepened Booz Allens under- of critical thinking and reasoning abilities (both
standing of the data science field but provided the inductive and deductive) a data scientist should
basis for defining core client talent needs through have to perform their job. Lastly, the personality
developing a data science competency framework competency cluster describes the personality traits
and, later, the Booz Allen data science Talent that drive behaviors that are beneficial to data
Management Model. scientists, such as inquisitiveness, creativity,
and perseverance.
DEFINING CORE TALENT NEEDS: Though there have been numerous technological
COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK advances within this fast-growing field, to date, the
Next, Booz Allen used the findings from our job job analysis and competency framework are believed
analysis to develop a data science competency to be the first, scientifically valid products to support
framework that encapsulates the KSAs for the design and development of a data science Talent
successful job performance across data science Management Model.
roles. To develop the competencies, we surveyed our
data science team and supplemented the findings, PUTTING IT TOGETHER: BOOZ ALLENS DATA
via convergent validity, using a secondary job SCIENCE TALENT MANAGEMENT MODEL
analysis by Hogan Assessmentsan industry leader Using the results of the job analysis and competency
in personality assessments. The findings indicated framework, Booz Allen designed the remaining
there are four unique and complementary data components needed for a comprehensive data
science competency clusters that, when considered science Talent Management Model. A Talent
together, convey the essence of what it means to be Management Model is a suite of integrated tools that
a successful data scientist. help organizations strategically manage employees
Booz Allen leveraged its human capital experts and its 500+ data
science team to conduct a comprehensive job analysis and develop a ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION
scientifically valid competency framework to help clients determine AND STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
TALENT what knowledge, skills, and abilities their data science team needs.
AGEMENT
MODEL
Everything You Need to Know About Managing Your Data Science Talent | 33
BOOZ ALLEN TALENT MANAGEMENT MODEL
Who You Need Job Analysis identifies key content in terms of activities and tasks
Key Benefits: involved and attributes required to successfully perform in a given job,
role, or position
++ Identify the data science talent that will
generate the most value
++ Rapidly define data science talent needs
Competency Framework encapsulates knowledge, skills and abilities
++ Select talent based on legally defensible for successful job performance
and scientifically valid data
Where You Need Them Workforce Modeling defines the type and amount of work within an
Key Benefits: organization with respect to the available talent supply and demand
How You Keep Them Career Paths/Matrix defines growth trajectories and transition points
Key Benefits: for personnel within the context of the organizations business
objectives
++ Reduce costly turnover in hard-to-find
data science positions
Training and Course Development creates developmental learning
++ Improve data scientists job satisfaction
opportunities to build new capabilities among junior talent and
and engagement
strengthen existing skill sets among senior talent
++ Motivate and grow data science talent
34 | T H E B O O Z A L L E N D ATA S C I E N C E TA L E N T M A N A G E M E N T M O D E L
across the talent life cycle, including identifying, TALENT MANAGEMENT AS AN ENABLER
acquiring, developing, motivating, and retaining FOR SUCCESS
talent. The model is designed to be comprehensive
to provide the insight and tools needed to help Recruiting and selecting the right talent is a critical
organizations strategically manage talent and flexible component to building a robust data science work-
in allowing an organization to select and focus on force within an organization but it is only a piece
immediate talent needs, where appropriate. In short, of the talent strategy. To enable data scientists to
the model is designed to be customized depending flourish and deliver on their promise to enhance
on current organizational talent realities. organizational performance, organizations must
consider the full Talent Management Model,
The Booz Allen data science Talent Management including the amount and type of work to be
Model is not just a grab-and-go toolkit. Rather, its performed, the competencies and skills needed
a set of comprehensive service offerings that allow to perform the work, and the development and
clients to answer three key data science talent retention strategies the organization can employ
questions: Who do you need? Where do you need to support this kind of unique workforce. By imple-
them? How do you keep and develop them? When menting a comprehensive Talent Management
Booz Allen created the Talent Management Model, Model that addresses these critical components,
we intentionally developed service offerings to help organizations can achieve an engaged and
clients who are struggling to answer one or more successfully performing workforce, while gaining
of these key questions. Some of the foundational maximum returns on their analytical investment.
service offerings, such as the competency
framework and position descriptions, are designed
to be easily customized to an organizations needs.
Other offerings, such as workforce modeling, needs
assessments, and team building, entail greater
engagement and partnership with clients. Depending
on where an organization falls within the data
science talent spectrum, the Talent Management
Model will help inform which offerings are
most valuable for addressing its data science
talent challenges.
Implementing a Talent Management Model not
only helps data scientists understand their role
and career path within the organization; it helps
organizations establish, manage, and retain
their data science workforce in a strategic and
comprehensive manner.
Everything You Need to Know About Managing Your Data Science Talent | 35
T H E D ATA S C I E N C E C H A L L E N G E
Two key dimensions make it hard for organizations to business issues, and there is no way to ensure that
appropriately focus their data and analytics. First, the organizations analytical horsepower is cohesively
they need to have a deep and innate understanding focused on rich and relevant business questions.
of their business. While this may seem obvious, the Second, the organizational value desired from data
reality is that this type of understanding is often science is often found at the intersection of analytics
dispersed among organizational leaders, business and context. While data science can provide predic-
units, data scientists, individual employees, and tive and perspective analytics, insightful context can
customers. It requires an insatiable curiosity and explain the answer of why, including why does this
institutional collaboration to discover. Without this matter. Without the proper context, analytics will
level of understanding, the organization will not be only go so far.
able to identify and articulate the most pressing
CASE IN POINT DESIGN THINKING RISES TO THE DATA SCIENCE
Data scientists who are centralized in one govern- CHALLENGE: GROUNDING AND AMPLIFYING THE
ment agencys organization are empowered to ANALY TIC METHOD
prioritize their own projects. Often the data scientists
Solving the data science challenge is about an
use financial return as the primary criterion to
organizations ability to focus, embrace, and use
prioritize their efforts. This essentially means that
analytics to generate meaning and impact that can
projects focused on other strategic objectives, such
result in the next level of organizational performance.
as improving customer experiences or decreasing
One way to do this is to inject the art of design
propensity for operational errors, are deprioritized.
thinking into an organizations analytics approach.
Those responsible for such outcomes must often
Design thinking is a problem-solving and innovation
design and plan solutions without the benefit of the
methodologya tool box of techniques born from the
analytical insight that data science can provide.
designers mindset. It emphasizes solving problems
The risk here is that data scientists may expend
by starting with people (e.g., customers, employees,
their tremendous talent on questions that only
patients) rather than starting with technology or
serve pockets of the enterprise, rather than
business positioning.
delivering on the promise of data science that
can drive the collective enterprise to the next level In particular, design thinking can be a powerful
of performance. complement to data science, given its natural ability
to support the seamless shift between deductive
and inductive reasoning. Design thinking follows a
Immerse
Immerse Synthesize
Synthesize Ideate
Ideate Prototype
Prototype
Observe and
Observe and document
document Use discovered
Use discovered knowledge
knowledge Combine and
Combine and contrast
contrast Build, test,
Build, test and
anditerate
iterate
human experiences
human experiences to
to to reframe
to reframe the
the problem
problem and
and dissimilar information
dissimilar information to
to light and
light and lean
lean examples
examples
gain qualitative knowledge
gain qualitative knowledge shape understanding
shape understanding provoke unexpected ideas
provoke unexpected ideas
38 | H OW D E S I G N T H I N K I N G C A N H E L P YO U R E A L I Z E O R G A N I Z AT I O N A L VA L U E
(i.e., context) and builds the institutional knowledge research capability and conducting research in
and critical buy-in necessary to ensure ongoing sequence with quantitative methods of research
engagement and eventual scaling of capabilities and (e.g., surveys, multivariate testing, and digital
solutions. These techniques refocus data efforts into analytics) helps to generate a more complete picture
more meaningful and important questions that are of not just whats happening, but why. This can
both business focused and analytically meaty. propel analytics organizations in new directions
Throughout Booz Allen Hamiltons methodology, there through new levels of insight into problems that have
is an iterative flow of activities that deliberately interactions among humans (customers, employees,
sequences divergent and convergent steps. For partners, etc.). The result can be a more fulfilling
instance, instead of generating ideas in a linear analytical answer for all parties involved.
fashion, where each idea is offered and then
H O S T C O L L A B O R AT I V E P R O B L E M
discounted for any number of reasons, in our
REFRAMING WORKSHOPS
approach to design thinking, ideas are generated in
large batches, built on by others, and then prioritized Booz Allens reframing workshops can bring together
based on any relevant criteria. The result is a much data scientists, business owners, and even
larger and more fertile sandbox of opportunity. These customers (where appropriate) to explore and
solution development activities help data scientists discover the hidden roots of business challenges and
engage with business counterparts and work quickly reframe problems into more meaningful
and creatively toward identifying and executing the questions. Reframing workshops are designed to
decisions and actions necessary to realize results challenge inherent assumptions made during the
with the buy-in of key business partners. analytical process, allowing the potential for break-
through thinking and solution development. Greater
value from data can be unleashed by following a
HOW BOOZ ALLEN EMBEDS DESIGN THINKING
progressive cycle of analytical testing and reframing
INTO ANALY TICS to arrive at more promising (and elegant for that
Design thinking is both an end-to-end process and a matter) analytical solutions. Greater collective
toolbox from which to pull tools and techniques for understanding helps to design more insightful
modular application. As such, its integration with research questions, and when paired with the right
data science can take several forms and requires analytical technique, increases the potential for
both experienced practitioners and sufficient training generating notable business impact.
of data scientists and other stakeholders to achieve
a shared mindset and language from which to U S E S T R U C T U R E D I D E AT I O N T O T H I N K B I G
collaborate. At Booz Allen, because we believe it is Design thinking includes many techniques for
such a powerful complement, we train our own data triggering ideas, drawing on existing patterns,
scientists and our clients in these techniques so that solutions, and concepts and reapplying them in
they can get the most organizational value possible. novel ways. With our design thinking techniques,
ideation moves from a critical linear process of
B L E N D D E S I G N R E S E A R C H I N T O A N A LY T I C S
idea-constraint-idea-constraint to a sequenced
One of the key aspects of design thinking is looking divergent process of generating a wealth of ideas
for the hidden meaning or goals of the customer, before converging on the most promising. These
employee, partner, or patient, etc. Its not enough to techniques allow teams to turn insights from analysis
identify and understand a customers needorgani- into so what actions necessary to move toward
zations need to dig deeper. Establishing a design organizational value.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The data science challenge is not going away, and it
is often not as simple as creating an algorithm to
generate organizational value. Rather, Booz Allen
finds value by taking a holistic approach deriving
meaningful insights by combining data science with
innovative and creative methodologies such as
design thinking. Booz Allens approach for realizing
the real potential of analytics rests on this broader
view of capabilities that moves beyond algorithms to
creative and organizational approaches to institution-
alize data science as more than a stove-piped
function, but rather as part of organizational DNA.
40 | H OW D E S I G N T H I N K I N G C A N H E L P YO U R E A L I Z E O R G A N I Z AT I O N A L VA L U E
WERE HERE TO HEL P Angela Zutavern
zutavern_angela@bah.com
Booz Allen is one of the pioneers of data 703-984-1028
science. And now were the go-to firm for
Ezmeralda Khalil
business and government agencies developing khalil_ezmeralda@bah.com
a data science capability. Let us know how we 703-377-6269
can help you.
Data scientists should be Ill take passion over talent Fundamentally, people drive the
truth-seekers, not fact-seekers. any day. analysis and make the interpreta-
tions, so it follows the more talented
your people then the better your
analysis and interpretations.
A B O U T B O OZ A L L E N H A M I LT O N
Booz Allen brings its pioneering work in advanced analyticsand the industry-leading
expertise of its more than 500-member data science teamto transform our clients data
into actions that keep them competitive in todays data-driven economy. The first ever
National Data Science Bowl, along with Booz Allens recently launched Explore Data Science
training program and Field Guide to Data Science is part of the firms ongoing commitment
to supporting data science education and awareness. Booz Allen Hamilton celebrated its
100th anniversary in 2014 and continues to be a leading provider of management consulting,
technology, and engineering services to the US government and to major corporations.
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www.boozallen.com/datascience